August 22, 2015 lunch – Greenhouse Bistro. Dinner – 5 Star Burger

August 22, 2015 lunch – Greenhouse Bistro. Dinner – 5 Star Burger

Lunch was heavenly

Dinner was hellish

I went to the Center for Ageless Living for a massage at around 1:00 and at 2:00 went to its Greenhouse Bistro for lunch.  Suzette joined me. I wanted to try the new chef, Alex’ cuisine.  I started with the Spa lunch special of Peach soup.with a Grape Suzette salad.  The presentation was lovely.  The soup was served in a punch cup (one of Mother’s) on a lovely ceramic plate accompanied by the salad.  It was a beautifully presented dish.  The salad was fresh and delicious with wonderfully fresh large red grapes sliced in half and chopped threads of Parmesan cheese and fresh tarragon and lettuce from the center’s garden.  The soup was surprisingly good, sweetened by peaches in a August 22, 2015 lunch – Greenhouse Bistro. Dinner – 5 Star Burgercreamy base and flavored with Cointreau and peach schnapps.

Then I ordered a Cuban sandwich because Suzette told me that Alex though the focaccia used on the sandwich was too thick and he had used his recipe for focaccia to bake a thinner and slightly denser focaccia.  The sandwich was very delicious and impressive.  Slices of ham, cheese, dill pickles, and roasted pork pressed together in a sandwich press.  I loved the firmness of the sandwich loaf and the side dish of fresh salad greens, slices of cucumber, and cherry tomatoes and even the small pile of crisp potato chips.

Alex is clearly using the bounty of the Center’s garden to enhance the freshness of the menu items, which I love and which I think makes the Greenhouse Bistro’s food so distinctively delicious and appealing.

The opposite occurred at dinner.  I told Suzette that I had had a great Fish and Chips at 5 Star Burger, so we decided to go therefor Fish And Chips.  When we were served our dish, I discovered that instead of the lovely large filets of Haddock that used to be on the dish the dish is now served with fish sticks that are tasteless and so thin they get over cooked and are dry with none of that fresh liquid fish flavor that makes Fish and Chips so delicious.  

I asked to speak to the Manager and when she came I asked why they would change the fish from a delicious filet to a fish stick.  She said the management in Kansas City had changed vendors from Sysco to U.S. Foods because U.S. foods could provide a Kansas ground beef.  Unfortunately U.S. Foods did not have the Haddock filets, only fish sticks.  Suzette explained that U.S. The Foods is mainly an institutional vendor that is known for its cheap prices and that was probably the reason for the change.  The Manager agreed that the fish sticks were of inferior quality and even suggested that if we wanted really fresh fish and chips we should go to “Two Fools Tavern” on Central because they use fresh fish and batter the filets themselves.

We probably will never go back to 5 Star Burger because we do not eat hamburgers for $11.00.  We instead grill rib steaks we buy for $6.00/lb.

But we surely will go to “Two Fools Tavern” next time we want fish and chips. 

Bon Appetit